LOS ANGELES — He’s better-known for big-studio comedies such as
Superbad and
Pineapple Express, but Seth Rogen strays from his beaten path in the low-budget
comedy-drama
Take This Waltz, scheduled to open on Friday.

Directed by Canadian actress-filmmaker Sarah Polley, the movie sees Rogen starring opposite
Michelle Williams, who is better-known for dramatic roles in films such as
Blue Valentine.

Rogen plays a cookbook author with an alcoholic sister (Sarah Silverman) who doesn’t seem to
notice that his wife (Williams) has fallen for the handsome artist (Luke Kirby) who lives across
the street.

Rogen, 30, talked recently about working with Williams, as well as his upcoming directorial
debut in
The End of the World.

Q: Take This Waltz is about a woman’s marriage failing because she’s in love with someone else —
not exactly a subject you’re associated with. How did this project come about?

A: I’m not one of those actors where filmmakers who I admire ask me to be in their movies. I
meet them at parties and they’re nice to me, but they never ask me to work with them. Sarah Polley
is one of the first filmmakers that I’ve really liked who asked me.

Q: There is no trace here of the man-child roles you often play in your other movies. It’s
probably your most serious role to date, wouldn’t you say?

A: It’s probably closer to what I am in real life. I think I’m one of those people who, when
fans meet, they’re often very disappointed because I’m kind of quiet and shy. I think they expect
me to have one of those hats with two beer cans strapped to my head and strippers on either side of
me. So it was nice to do something where I didn’t have to be really funny all the time.

Q: Did you enjoy working with Michelle Williams?

A: She was very impressive. A lot of our scenes were emotionally demanding. The emotional
turmoil that actors put themselves through at the drop of a hat is not the type of stuff I normally
do.

Q: You’re making your feature directorial debut with Evan Goldberg in the comedy The End of the
World, in which you also star. How do you like directing?

A: It was a little daunting because the movie itself is technically complicated. The story is
something we’ve been working on for years and years. There have been several moments where I feel
like “I can’t believe we pulled this off!” But those wonderful moments have been shattered by the
stress of “We’re not going to finish what we need to shoot in time!”